In 2013, Manfield invested in AtWill Pubs (trading as A2B Public Houses), based in the northwest of England.
AtWill was founded by Ed Atkinson and Fred Williams in 2009 with a view of creating a chain of pubs focused on more traditional values and not tied to any major brewer. Their aim was to buy under-managed or closed pubs, reinvest in them and change the management. Pubs are all freehold, not tied to major brewers, largely wet-led. We introduce a good selection of cask ales, simple food to create the atmosphere of a more traditional pub.
After acquiring their second pub in 2012, they decided that they needed additional funding to acquire more pubs and Manfield has provided them with equity backing to assist in that growth and assisted in the raising of debt finance. Manfield sits on the board to assist in strategic and operational direction, and funding.